Glenn here with my yearly tradition of counting down 2013's best movie posters. I've done this for the last however many years at my own blog crowning such gorgeous designs as An Over-Simplification of Her Beauty, Here I Am, The Runaways, and Antichrist. but this year we've shipped it on over to The Film Experience. I've gotten a bit of a reputation as "the poster guy" due to being one of the only people online who seemed to look at poster art in details and with any sort of critical eye. Thankfully that's not so much the case anymore with more and more websites starting features and writing lists dedicated to key art. For once I was ahead of the curve!

This year's list was remarkably easy to compile. Perhaps it goes hand in hand with being a good year for film in general, but 2013 was an excellent year for the art of movie posters. I didn't have to scrounge around for titles to finish the list. In fact, despite the list being a whopping 50 titles long, I still had to leave some out. It will become obvious that I have a thing for horror and indie titles because I feel they have to work harder at convincing audiences to give them the time of day. Still, the lack of Hollywood blockbusters isn't me being contrarian or anti-populist, but just reflecting the rather lacklustre year in that department. But, hey, if it means I get to share the likes of Zero Charisma, Simon Killer, Mystery Road and more with you then I'm okay with that.

Firstly, some caveats: I only include official posters. No fan designs - if I did then the above Sam Smith design for Spring Breakers with its Miami Vice hombre colour scheme would be numbers one-seven. That also means to Alamo Drafthouse specialty posters. Also missing will be Nymphomaniac, which I am considering a 2014 release and, thus, ineligible. I mean, you've gotta draw the line somewhere, right? Film title links lead to larger version to feast your eyes upon.

30.Zero Charisma: For its hi-fi design for lo-fi movie. 29.Grabbers: For its humour and not taking the easy road. 28.Stoker: For its intricateness and making me look twice. 27.The Great Gatsby: For its decadence and Debecki’s art deco pose.

22.Trance: For its explosive graphic edge. 21.The Selfish Giant: For not giving into grim imagery for such a grim tale. 20.The Conjuring: For its old school aesthetic and Lily Taylor’s captivating face. 19.You’re Next: For its game-playing and uniqueness.

4.Sightseers: For a cutesy concept that’s entirely relevant and not making it cheap. 3.Jodorowsky’s Dune: For being breathtaking by actually making a poster for Alejandro Jodorowsky’s Dune. 2.The Wolverine: For using its film’s setting as a means of doing something new and unique. For not flubbing it with bad Photoshop and inappropriate text.

1.Spring Breakers: For the neon. For the pose. For the tagline. For being iconic, dangerous, youthful, and totally in spirit with the film.

And that's that! I could also share the worst posters of the year - trust me: that list is also quite long - but I think we'll leave it with the positives. What designs piqued your interest in 2013? Did I miss any? It's very likely that I did, but I'm also happy with the list as it stands.

Reader Comments (13)

A fine list (and love your descriptions). The Great Beauty also had two excellent posters, I thought: a red one with Toni Servillo walking in a white suit, and the classical statue with Servillo seated and the film's title in big bold yellow.

The Bastards poster works even better when after you watch it and compare its beats to Chinatown. Even the posters share a similar quality.

I present the You & The Night poster. It made Cahiers top 10 and was at Cannes last year. Not sure if it is ever coming to the states but its trailer and this poster have me curious.http://25.media.tumblr.com/fa60b9491a58c50fe7a8f2daaa34b6de/tumblr_mwvpcdewYC1r6ivyno1_500.jpg

Henry, as mentioned at the top NYMPHOMANIAC is for most people a 2014 release so I didn't include it. Next year, however...

Suzanne, something about that NEBRASKA poster always irked me. Like, very deliberately "look how craaazy he is with the hair and the facial expression." Also, the ERASERHEAD poster is one of my favourites so there's no messing with that!

What;s sad about this is that most of the posters picked in here are from indies that have limited marketing money. It's sad because I wish studios would let filmmakers have more say in the way they present their film through their posters instead of having a marketing agency decide, so we are stuck with floating heads or badly Photoshopped collages and disproportionate limbs on our movie stars.

The #28 Stoker is my favorite of the year, though I find the ones for The Bling Ring and Gatsby just as memorable. I hadn't seen that one for Selfish Giant - that's great - and of course your #3 is pretty incredible.

I'm always a fan of your annual list. So awesome you got it posted here because I can think of no other site that appreciates the art of posters and their surprising and clever nature. No surprises either that the indie releases tend to dominate these lists, year after year, of very creative, memorable and striking one-sheets.

I thought all the Spring Breakers posters were just genius. I love the neon props one (#12) but your number one is pretty stellar. That sunglasses Bling Ring one was so clever and the b+w pencil drawing of Stoker's (#28) was gorgeous and thoughtful.

I second the Her poster with Phoenix's face against the red + pink colorblock. It stands out so beautifully when you see it lined up with other generic commercial work at the local multiplex.